Black Adam Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs

1. The Frustratingly Inconsistent Visuals

Name a more iconic duo than DCEU movies and bafflingly wonky visuals. Much like Aquaman in particular, Black Adam is a film that looks both insanely expensive and hilariously cheap at the same time.

Though the action sequences do often dazzle, the movie as a whole suffers from such inconsistent visual presentation.

Practically every shot in the movie employs VFX of some kind, much of which is blurry and low-quality, further aiding the feeling we're watching something ripped kicking and screaming out of the year 2000.

The gaudy effects work tramples over the solid lensing of Oscar-nominated cinematographer Lawrence Sher (Joker), as becomes especially egregious in the third act.

The VFX for Ishmael's final form - the demonic Sabbac - are especially embarrassing for a tentpole movie released in 2022, approximating a video game cutscene from at least two generations ago.

All in all Black Adam provides further proof that throwing a bunch of sloppy CGI at the screen can't ever really compensate for a well-told story featuring compelling characters.

These significant gripes aside, though, here's where Black Adam actually succeeds...